No. 17 UC Irvine Loses in Late Innings to Cal State Bakersfield

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. --- UC Irvine gave up four runs in the ninth and one in 10th to fall 5-4 to Cal State Bakersfield Friday at Hardt Field. The loss was UCI's second straight and drops the Anteaters to 26-12 on the year.

After erasing a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth, CSUB shortstop Tyler Shryock led off the bottom of the 10th with a single and took second on the sacrifice bunt. Andrew Letourneau drove a 2-1 pitch to left field off reliever Nick Hoover to score Shryock for the game-winning run.

UCI looked to have the game well in hand behind starter Matt Summers, who was stellar on the mound. Summers faced just two over the minimum through eight, giving up lone singles in the fourth and the seventh. However, in the in the top of the ninth, CS Bakersfield put runners on first and second via a leadoff single and a full-count walk. The Anteaters turned to closer Brian Hernandez but Letourneau and Jeremy Rodriguez came up with consecutive RBI singles to cut the lead to 4-2. Hernandez was lifted for Jimmy Litchfield and Martin Medina drove in a run on a fielder's choice before Mick Gaston tied the game with a two-out single to right.

Sean Madigan got aboard in the Anteater first on a groundball up the middle that was mishandled by second baseman Oscar Sanay. A failed pickoff by starter Mike McCarthy allowed Madigan to advance to second and a grounder to third put Madigan on third with two outs for Drew Hillman, who dropped a single to right-field to give UCI a 1-0 lead.

Jordan Leyland tacked on a run for the Anteaters in the eighth on a sacrifice fly to score Hernandez, who was hit by the pitch, advanced to second on a bunt single by Hillman before taking third on a ground-ball out.

Hillman led UCI with a run on three hits. Jordan Fox, making his first start since Apr. 5, was 2 for 4. Reyes also had two hits while driving in a run.

Letourneau led the Roadrunners with two runs on three hits while Shannon won his first decision (1-0) after two innings of one-hit relief.